Diplomatic-Inflitration
by CacophonyEG
Summary: Pidge and Keith are selected to go on a mission by the Blades of Marmora. The mission: infiltrate a party as a Duchess and her Knight. (Kidge Mission Week 2018 Day 01)
1. Getting Ready

Pidge looked at herself in the mirror and barely recognizes her reflection. Puffy flowing dress down to the floor, A long purple wing, its hair's twisted and braided over her head like a crown, the straps of the decorative Vale interwoven into the braid. The Vale hanging over half her face made to mask her eye colour; the shade of her eyes a slightly different shade than the duchess she was pretending to be.

"Allura this won't work, I... I can't handle big parties, I can't even be myself at large get-togethers" Pidge explained, this was a bad plan a really bad plan "how the hell am I supposed to pretend to be a Duchess? Especially one that supports the Galra Empire?" Pidge questioned looking over at Allura, Lance coming back from a side closet with more decorative accessories for her hair.

"Head forward, please" Lance requested taking his stance behind her. Pidge reluctantly turning her head back to the mirror hating the sight of herself right now.

"it will be alright Pidge, Duchess Rukul is well known to be quiet reclusive even during parties." the princesses explained

"Relax Pidge, just remember what that undercover blade member said, the one that usually escorts Duchess" Lance hummed trying to recall the guy's name.

"Lucaus" Pidge Provided.

"Yeah him" Lance nodded his eyes not leaving her hair.

Pidge recalled his words and repeated them out loud "Rukul doesn't talk to many people, usually giving suitors that approach her carless uninterested looks, and mostly communicates with disapproving sighs and groans."

"Pretty much just channel your inner Keith" Lance added, delicately sliding more jewels into her hair.

Pidge letting out a disgruntled sigh; it wasn't the answer she was hoping for. She knew this was a mission the blades themselves requested her to do but...

"Allura this would work so much better if you use your shapeshifting abilities and take my place" Pidge pleaded, it was the six-time she asked to switch places. Pidge rather be going into a Galra warship, than go to a political party, crowded with people trying to brown nose her. All while trying to appear as someone prim and proper with years of grace training, when she wasn't even used to wearing floor length dress!

Allura sighed ready to explain to pidge again why she had to go instead, but Lance beat her too it "Pidge you are the tech wizard, this is a hacking mission, you need to go" Lance told her.

Allura wouldn't have put it in so few words but Lance summed up her other replies pretty well.

The princess bent down next to Pidge, putting her hand over the smaller girl's. "It will be alright Pidge, you can do this, and you will not be alone in this, Keith will be by your side the whole time."

"Right..." Pidge said softly, it was assuring to have Keith and not a random Blade member for this mission, but the hundreds of ways she could mess this up didn't leave her mind...

"keep your head still" Lance order, as she accidentally turned her head toward Allura, one of his hands gently pushing on Pidge's chin to make her look forward again.

* * *

"Shiro you should be going instead of me" Keith argued taking off the helmet that helps disguise himself as the Duchess's Knight; her usual guardian to these parties.

"Keith you know I can't, I'm too recognizable, their weapon sensors would detect my arm before I got through the door" Shiro explained.

"Plus Shiro's way too tall to pass off as Lucaus" Hunk added.

"This is also a Blade's mission and they did select you" Coran pointed out.

Keith glared at them in the corner of his vision. He already knew that, and a part of him was almost tempted to suggest Lance go instead of him...almost.

Keith looked angry but Shiro could see the hints of worry and nervousness in friend's eyes.

"Hunk, Coran, could you go double check that everything is good to go, on Keith and Pidge's shuttle."

"Sure thing Shiro" Hunk nodded, both recognizing the hint that Shiro wanted to talk to Keith alone.

Shiro waiting until he heard the second woosh of the doors closing before shifting his focus back onto Keith. "Keith, what are you so worried?" Shiro asked.

There was a pause between them as Keith took a moment to inwardly debate if he wanted to voice his concerns. "Pidge and I haven't worked together in months..." Keith replied.

"yes, you've been with the blades" Shiro nodded waiting for him to continue.

"I got the briefing from Lucaus about how he and his Duchess usually behave around each other...and I don't think I can... I'm not the right person to be Pidge's escort." Keith said looking down at the ground.

Shiro raised a brow, well he managed to get what Keith was worried about, now he just needed to figure out the why. "and what makes you think that?" Shiro questioned.

"The Rukul and Lucaus are known to be very close, able to read each other with a glance, She completely trusts him without hesitation..."Keith gripped the helmet in his hands tighter trying to mask how his hands started to shake. "Pidge was so upset with me, disappointed at how I was handling being the black paladin before..." he left... " -we've barely talked since then, we're not in sync anymore, she won't trust me, not like she used to..."

Shiro gave him a soft smile, "that description is pretty close to how Pidge and you were when as the arms of Voltron" Shiro pointed out, he wanted to add that they were similar when Keith was leader as well, but Keith always seemed to shut down a little when he brought up his time as leader.

"But that came from being part of Voltron and our connection to our loins, I... I'm not a part of that anymore" Keith argued his shoulders slumping.

"Connection to Voltron or not, a bond like that doesn't disappear. Yes, being away from each other has probably gotten both of you a little out of sync." Shiro agreed, "But that just means you two need a little time to reconnect, your bond is frayed not severed." Shiro assured.

Keith nodded feeling a little better, but the lingering feeling of worry and doubt hover in his gut.

"The Duchess is ready" Lance announced, making a grand gesture, as a short purple hair duchess passed Lance into the room.

Keith had to do a double take, if he didn't know any better he would never have recognized this noble woman was Pidge.

"You look nothing like yourself" Keith stated, as the short girl walked towards Shiro and him.

"Considering this is an undercover mission I'll take that as a good thing" Pidge replied giving him an uneasy smile, a smile that felt forced even to Keith.

He wasn't the best at reading people but even Keith could tell Pidge was nervous about this mission. She must be uneasy about working with him... The feeling in his gut tighten; she didn't trust him to have her back.

Pidge taking a deep breath to suppress her frying nerves, wishing her mind wouldn't keep generating different ways she would mess this up, a slip of words or her feet, a missed custom, a gesture that was off from the Duchess' usual mannerisms.

Shiro had to resist shaking his head, it was amazing some days that despite how different Keith and Pidge were, they had a lot of similarities.

"Ready to go my Knight?" Pidge asked, stretching her out hand towards him.

"Shouldn't Keith be the one asking you that" Lance stated making both Pidge and Keith flinch, they were already making mistakes and they weren't even on the mission yet.

"It will be alright, as long as you two stay close and watch out for each other things will work out," Shiro assured, that seems to relax both of them.

Even if Pidge was still mad at him, Keith knew he could always trust Pidge to stay with him and get anything done, always finding solutions to impossible problems.

Pidge had no doubt that Keith would have her back, even if they got in trouble or if trouble found them; between Keith's battle skills and her gift for tech, they would find a way out of it.

Keith put the knight's helmet back on taking a step towards Pidge offering his arm. A small smile played over her lips, her shoulders relaxing as she folded her arm over his.

Maybe they really could pull this off…

Not smoothly, of course, that was asking too much out of either of them when it came to large social events.


	2. Time

Keith notice Pidge fiddling with the fingers of her gloves, as they flew toward what they deemed a 'mansion ship' a ship that could easily hold its own against pirates but was a long ways away from being a warship and was clearly designed to be visually appealing over war functional. She kept glancing back at him, giving herself a little reassuring nod that he was there, before looking towards the door again waiting for the feeling of the ship touching down. Then she looked back again at him.

Keith stood a step and a half behind her as his role demanded, "don't keep looking at me, you'll give us away" he stated.

"Right sorry" she quickly replied, forcing her head to look forward.

Keith had never really seen this side of her before, he had never seen Pidge doubt herself… or was she doubting him? Keith wishing Shiro was here instead of him, Shiro always knew what she needed to hear… he always knew what everyone needed so much better than him.

Keith couldn't make her laugh and relax as Hunk could. He couldn't flip her overly logical mind against her like Lance often did, forcing her to change her perspective. Allura could guild her through this party and knew how to act like a knight a lot better than he ever would.

Keith only knew that he had to do something to assure her, he only had a short window before they landed and had to fall into their roles. Keith glanced around making sure no one would or could see them, taking two steps forward.

Pidge didn't even glance back at him, doing what he said before and kept her head looking forward. Though with the way her shoulders tilted to one side Keith could tell she was fighting with herself not to look.

Keith reaching for her shoulder pausing as he recalled her bare shoulders had painted spots all over them; to make her look more like the species that the duchess was, but he honestly couldn't tell which spots were real and which ones were her freckles.

Moving his hand down to the small of her back, figuring that was a safe spot to touch. Pidge jumped a little seeming a little surprised, but kept her head and gaze looking forward.

"You don't ever need to look back, Nothing and no one will stop me from being by your side," Keith promised, it was the only assurance he could give her, it was the only thing he had no doubt he could do.

"With your stubbornness and the lack of social tack I don't doubt it" she quietly replied, her words blunt, her tone dry. Keith feeling that heaviness in his gut returned, her voice balancing on the borderline of teasing, or annoyed truth.

The weighted feeling in his gut only lifting a little as her lips; painted a colour somewhere between purple and pink, curled into a smile as she turned her head to face him.

"I know I should be more worried about keeping our covers, but it's really comforting knowing I won't ever be alone in this place," Pidge affirmed, her voice having a gentler softer, almost more feminine tone as she spoke. Keith feels as if he was listening to a hidden voice of hers like there was no filter of thought or emotions just truth, and it made Keith's gut twist and flip in a much different way than it had before.

Keith felt confusion over this sensation, but now wasn't the time to figure it out. They felt the shift and the illusion of added weight to the ship, as it landed inside the mansion ship. Both quickly getting back in place, mentally trying to fall into their roles again.

Pidge rolling her shoulders back and changing her stance. Back straight, head looking forward not up or down, it was hard to tell what she was thinking without seeing her face. Keith imagining she was going through a mental checklist she made before had to help her fall better into the role. Taking one last quiet, deep breath, before the doors opened and she walked onto the ramp provided for them to exit the ship.

Despite how nervous she was about this mission, Keith thought she fell into the role of the mostly silent duchess pretty well. Pidge usually walked in long strides to keep up with everyone else, but now in the long dress she walked in half steps, it was a small change but it gave the aura of someone who expects other people to follow her pace verse her trying to keep up with others.

Keith found getting in surprisingly easy, at least for pidge. Despite her having their weapons hidden under her dress' his Marmora Blade strapped to one leg and a taser wipe with a blade tip on the other. She wasn't allowed to bring any Altean tech with her as it would be detected by the parties weapon sensors, and so they found the closest substitute they could among the blades assortment of weapons, the weapons smiths having long since created weaponry to get past such detection systems.

They scanned her and then gave her a quick pat down; that seems more out of formality than a serious examination, before waving her through. Keith, on the other hand, was fully examined to the point he was grateful they didn't ask him to start taking off his armour. Clearly seeing him as a more likely threat compared the grumpy duchess, Pidge was pretending to be.

She kept following Keith's advise, not looking back at him as she waited on the other side of the security lines. Her eyes drifted around the area, they appear as if she was someone looking around out of boredom. Keith knew Pidge better than that; she was scanning the area, absorbing all that she could, filing the information she saw in a section of her mind for possible use later.

The Guards finished with the examination, Keith calmly walking up to Pidge staying a step and a half away from her. "I'm done duchess," Keith said, his voice distorted by the helmet.

She nodded letting out a little hmph of confirmation before she continued to walk forward.

They walked without a fuss this hallway only leading one way, which limited their escape route. Pidge right index finger tapping against her dress every few steps, Keith only assuming she must have been counting something as they walked, her mind always seems to be at work. That was until her body and feet came to a screeching halt as she steps foot into a room with a sea of people.

Keith stopped behind her looking around wondering what she saw, was there a general they knew here? Was there someone here that could be a risk to their cover? The ones Keith saw that were in armour, looked like fellow person guards and others wore outdated armour that appeared more for show than practicality, maybe a way for them to show their heritage?

Keith couldn't figure it out, what had thrown Pidge off so much in this room. His head looking back down at her, seeing Pidge's small gloved hands shaking, tightly grip the sides of her dress, and it finally clicked in; Pidge was scared.

Keith had seen her rush into battle, fight people three times her size, outmanoeuvre and outsmart a herd of enemies, watch her sneak into warships. The concept that she might be afraid of parties or crowds had never crossed his mind.

He opened his mouth, her name on his lips but quickly stopped himself, he couldn't say her name, he couldn't ask if she was alright. Keith mentally scrambled for a minute, but he didn't have time to think this over if people noticed her fear they might start questioning her actions from this point forward. Once again Keith had to choose action over words. Taking a few steps closer to her, placing his hand on the small of her back again.

The touch seems to unfreeze her, Pidge whipping her head to look up at him, even with the vale her eyes were wide, her gaze distant. Her mind taking a beat or two before her flow of thoughts seem to reboot her gaze refocusing on him. She leaned into his hand feeling her muscles relax against him. Pidge giving him a nod, momentarily resting more of her weight against his hand, taking a deep breath through her nose before propelling herself forward into the crowd.

Ignoring the strange sensations lingering in his hand. Keith quickly followed, keeping a half a step closer to her than before.

This was new for Keith, he had, and always would have Pidge's back, protect her whenever she needed, but he never saw her as someone who 'needed' protection. Pidge was amazing someone who has and continues to protect the galaxy, but here? Drowning in a crowd pretending to be someone she wasn't, seem to rip and tear her down.

Keith watching her closer than ever, his guard only spiking whenever someone approached Pidge. Observing how every conversation took a chunk of Pidge's energy with it, making her looked more tired and tense all at once.

Pidge doing a better job than he ever could, he didn't know how to be someone else, if he really admitted it, he didn't even know how to be himself. It was a wonder to him, how she could pull off being someone completely different from herself, a part of him curious if this was something she was naturally good at or became good after pretending to be Pidge for so long at the garrison.

For a brief moment, Keith wondered what the differences were between Pidge and the person she was before her family went missing... What had completely changed? what had stayed similar and what had she completely lost and let go in the shuffle? He guessed only Shiro or Matt would know. Keith had never really thought of all the changes she went through and all the added stresses she must have endured transitioning from Katie to Pidge.

Yet something about this crowd, this role of hers, was taking a heavy toll on Pidge. He could only fathom the thousand anxious filled scenarios her acute mind was crafting, and Keith would be damned before he would let anyone of those frightful thoughts get validate.

Men and women tried to talk to 'the duchess Rukul', Pidge sticking to her role, eventually shooing them away, with exaggerated humphs, disinterested groans and exhausted sighs; though Keith could tell those sighs weren't fake. Honestly, Keith preferred the women at least they got the hint and moved on instead of some of the men deciding to take her dismissal as a challenge and come back for round two.

This one man came up to Pidge a third time, coming in from the side, much too close for Keith's liking, and when the man's hand raised; going toward Pidge's back side. Keith. Was. Done.

Keith grabbing the man's wrist and none too gently twisting his arm till it bent awkwardly and painfully behind the man's back. "Do not touch her." Keith lowly growled sounding more Galra than even he liked, making sure the warning sunk in than shoving the man away. Before Keith was tempted to do worst.

Said man whipped around, glaring at the duchess's knight, the fight in him fading to embarrassment as he registered clusters of eyes scattered around them, placed questionably on him. Hands shaking slightly as he adjusted his suit, confidently strutting away as if it was his idea all along to dismiss himself from the Duchess and her knight.

As Keith kept his eyes on the man making sure he was a good distance away. Others began to turn back to their fellow compatriots and continue on with whatever conversation they were having prior to the minor tussle.

Keith rolled his shoulders sliding out of his fighting stance and returning to a more formal guarding stance, turning to look back to Pidge, needing to make sure she was okay.

She gazes up at him with relief washed over her features, her magenta painted lips, mouthing the words 'thank you'.

Keith beginning to think Pidge should wear that shade over her lips more often. It had this effect to make her lips stand out, and would be great on missions to make it easier for him to see the silent words her lips formed.

A beat later Pidge closed her eyes and straighten her back falling into her role once more "I need to freshen up" Pidge ordered, with an annoyed sigh; again, Keith could tell wasn't fake like most of her replies tonight.

Keith following close behind her, figuring this was Pidge's way of excusing herself from the main party with minimal suspicion, so their real mission could begin.


	3. Closet

This chapter went places I was not expecting, compared to when I first thought of it.. As I was writing, I tried to think how each of them would react, Pidge being logical about it, while Keith being emotional about it and then I started to think about how he was raised and what Shiro would have taught him, and how Pidge outside of Allura is pretty much his only female friend and well, it turned into this...tell me what you think?

* * *

The suffocating weight on Pidge's chest and the buzzing haze in her mind was easing and erasing. Now that she was out of that crowded ballroom. She could focus on the mission, what they needed to get, and how they were going to get it, and vague instructions on how to find it.

She hated working with limited knowledge, having the layout of the place, locations of cameras and other mechanical security features, but little to no info on Guard patterns, rotation, numbers? None of that… it was frustrating, but this wasn't too different than how they handled things during the first few months as a team, before they had the blades, before they had any major allies.

At least having Keith with her, they could adapt to whatever might come their way. Fighting one on one few could beat Keith, and she hadn't met a piece of tech she couldn't bend to her will. Their only major downfall was her freakin noisy dress.

The multiple layers of the skirt creating rustling every time she turned or swayed her body in the slightest. It hadn't seemed very noisy or noticeable as she tried it on, or as they walked around in the open. But now that every light sound could be the difference between staying hidden or being discovered; the ruffles were close to deafening.

Keith kept glancing back at her, tensing each time the dress shifted a little too loudly. She mouthed a sorry, holding her dress a little tighter and higher each time. The effort felt futile as at least one of the layer would always find some way to shuffle around.

Making their way through this place, was much slower than it should have been for them, all because of the dress… it gradually frustrating both of them more and more. Clearly, she had to make sure that any future stealth missions had a thoroughly tested stealth dress, that if she would ever let them convince her to do something like this again.

They froze, footsteps echoed in the distance unable to tell if it was a guard or servant, and they were barely halfway to where they needed to be. With limited rooms around them and much too far away from the main party to make any believable excuse; or at least no excuse Keith or her could pull off.

Pidge's mentally brought up the blueprint of this area and what each room size was and it's most likely function. She glanced around only three rooms and only one that could be a feasible hiding spot.

She rushed over to the door she needed to get through, her fingers rapidly tapping over the control panel, breaking down the basic code that made up the locking mechanism.

Corner of her eye she could see Keith stepping between her and the approaching sounds of footsteps. Reaching for his blade, seeing him make a double take before glancing back at her, probably recalling that his weapon was on her. Shaking his head and facing in the direction of the noise again, sliding into a fighting stance, just as she got the door to open.

The room was small and dark with only bits of the light from the hall to illuminate the little room, judging by the folded clothes or sheets, it was some kind of linen closet. This would work for their hiding spot.

Pidge letting go of one side of her dress, reaching out for Keith's arm, her small hand pulling on his armoured arm, Keith locked his legs stopping her from leading him. It through Pidge off a little, he never used to resist her guiding him before.

Keith whipped his head around to face her, Pidge letting go of the rest of her heavy dress to point aggressively at the room, tugging on his arm again this time with more force, Keith gradually easing his stance and followed her in.

The room was small but fit the two of them with relative ease, hearing the steps getting ever closer. Pidge moving around Keith to hit the coded panel inside the room; closing the door. Drowning the room in darkness as the door closed.

She stepped back bumping into Keith, the telltale ruffle noise of her dress felt like it was echoing in the small room as she twisted to face him.

Seemingly with little thought, Keith stopped her, snaking an arm around her waist and holding her close to his form. The room was pitch black she could see anything, needing to purely rely on her other sense, she felt the chin of his helmet rest on her shoulder.

"Don't move" his whispered into her ear, making as little noise as he needed to. She made no noise of confirmation, knowing that would be little help in this situation, she could feel him nodding slightly against her shoulder. Before ever so slowly shifting and moving behind her.

Keith keeping his right arm firmly pressed around her waist, he carefully bent down. Pidge feeling his legs pressing into her dress, knees brushing around her outer legs, as he squatted down. Hearing a rustle of her dress's layers and feeling a slight shift in the skirt part of her dress. Briefly wondering what he was doing.

The footsteps were so close now, Keith's fingers gripping her side a little tighter, wondering if he was preparing to attack or getting enough leverage to lunge forward while holding her and keeping her out of harm's way. It wasn't uncommon for Keith to take a hit for her, and it made sense now more than ever. His armour could take a few hits and still leave him relatively unharmed, her dress, on the other hand, gave her little to no protection.

The footsteps came up to the door and… passed them without so much as a pause in their steps.

She relaxed slightly but refused to let herself sigh, or make any kind of noise, knowing that the slightest sound could make their passer by round back towards them.

The small noise in the distance of more echoing steps made both of them tense again, they sounded a fair distance away but had no way to tell if they were going to come towards them or head down a different corridor.

Keith lifted up the many layers that made up the skirt of her dress, Pidge sharply breathing through her nose and almost biting her tongue, startling her with the action. Keith froze, Pidge mind scrabbling for a moment, wondering why he would even want to or need to lift her dress, then she thought of what Keith needed… his blade was hidden under her dress.

She figured it would make less noise for him to lift up her dress and get his blade than her trying to bend over and fumble with the layers herself. Keith must have figured the same and it was way he was currently trying to do what he was doing. Pidge using her right hand to gently tap the arm he had around her waist, signally him it was okay to continue.

Pidge could feel a burst of cool air brushing over her legs as Keith kept lifting her dress higher. She felt the side of his helmet lightly brushing against her arm using it as a guild to where she was in the pitch black room as he gradually stood up. Pidge could tell he was taking special care to make as little noise as possible as he moved her dress, holding still as the front of her dress reached her mid-thigh. Pidge feeling the layers of her dress bunching up against her the bottom of her stomach just below his arm that was still wrapped firmly around her waist.

Keith held the dress there till he finished standing resting his chin on her shoulder, leaning a little more forward and over her shoulder. Granting his arm a little more movement, dipping his hand under her dress, his gloved fingers brushing over her leg.

She couldn't stop herself from shivering as the cold touch of his glove touched her skin, biting her lower lip to hold back a squeak of surprise. It must have not been silent enough as she felt his head tilt a little towards her.

She nodded the side of her head brushing up and down against the side of his helmet, hoping he could feel the movement and read it's meaning. The sound of muffled steps growing closer, no doubt now that the person was heading to their door, it left little time for them, but they still had to play this cautiously encase the person would just pass them as the last one did. His whole gloved hand pressed against the bare skin of her thigh, the cool sensation against her warm skin making a shiver travel all the way up her spine but she at least had enough control to stop any noises this time.

Pidge swore she could feel goosebumps forming everywhere his glove hand touched, as he slowly glided his hand up higher till he felt the strap of the weapon holster. His fingers gliding over the strap going outwards. That was when her mind so helpfully clicked in and reminded her; Keith's weapon was on her other leg.

Pidge quickly used her left arm to grab his exploring left arm, her hand guiding down over his armour, sliding over the back of his gloved hand and her fingers between his fingers. She could practically feel his confusion as the metal of his helmet pressed against her cheek, her mind's eye envisioning the questioning look he was giving her.

She kept her focus on his hand and her eyes on the door as she tugged his hand, thankful the little tug was all it took for him to let her take the lead this time. The footsteps getting uncomfortably close; she carefully guided his hand over the straps, trying to make as little noise as possible, feeling the pinky and thumb of his glove brushing over skin as she leads him to the right weapon.

She could only move her hand so far without moving her body, letting go of his hand to let him feel out where his weapon was on his own. Keith's wrist and arm sliding through her hand as it reaches towards her outer thigh, her fingers gliding over the smooth armour of along his arm.

Pidge could feel the sheath of the hoster shift as he found it, hand sliding up the hoster to find the handle to his blade as the steps paused in front of their door.

Light flashed into the room partly blinding them both, Keith focuses shifting to getting his weapon gripping the handle and sliding it out without hurting Pidge.

Her hand gripping his wrist like a vice, Pidge's eyes registering the person at the door before he could, his hand and weapon remaining hidden under the curtain of her skirt.

A servant girl, judging by the uniform, eyes wide and face flushing a deep purple.

"I-I'm so sorry, I-didn't-know" the girl rambled out her words "I-I just continue what you're doing" she squeaked slamming her hand on the control panel closing the door and shuffling away making little noises of discomfort.

They both stayed still as confusion flooded them both, the servant didn't seem scared at all, surprised for sure and very...embarrassed? She didn't even confront them about being there, and even apologized like she had interrupted something.

It took a few long moments of deduction before the reason hit Pidge, and she registered how they must look to an outsider.

Keith's body pressed flush against her back, his helmet and her face leaning and pressing against the side of each other, his right arm wrapped firmly around her waist keeping her close and still with her hand still resting over his, with a mix of her and his's hands under her dress.

"Oh," Pidge blushed, unable to hold back the noise of realization, as he put the pieces together.

"What?" Keith questioned just above a whisper, his helmet sliding over her cheek and ruffling the bangs of her wig as turned to look at her.

"She thought you were feeling me up" Pidge replied, no wonder the girl was embarrassed she thought she walked in on a noble having a secret affair with her knight.

"Feeling you up?" Keith questioned, clearly having no idea, what that term meant.

She felt her cheeks growing a little hotter knowing she had to explain "She thought you were sexually touching and fondling me" Pidge told him, feeling Keith jolt against her as her words sunk in, before bolting backwards, scrabbling to get his arms off of her and getting as far away from her as possible, banging against the shelves behind them.

Pidge wasn't sure if she should feel insulted he had such a strong reaction to the thought of touching her like that or amused with how embarrassed the usually stoic Keith probably was right now.

She chooses the later, though felt a little disappointed she couldn't see his face right now thanks to the darkroom and his helmet.

"Relax I know that wasn't your intention" Pidge assured him, a smile spreading across her lips as she tried to envision what a flustered embarrassed Keith's face looked like right now.

There was a light ruffle of her dress as she turned to face him, reaching out, her hand touching the armour on his chest, His body going as stiff as a statue.

"Keith, are you oka-"

"Sorry" Keith blurted out "you can punch or hit me"

"What!?" she questioned; where was this coming from?

"I'm so sorry, I never meant to force that kind of touch on you, I never meant to force you to stay still for that reason" Keith sounding so guilty his voice struggling to stay quiet and she could feel him trembling against his hand.

Pidge couldn't understand why he was acting like this, acting so panicked and guilty, and saying he forced this on her, Pidge trying to see things from Keith's point of view, trying to think what he had done that seemed so wrong it was shaking him to his core...oh damn it did he think he sexually assaulted her?

She could picture Shiro teaching Keith that forcefully touching a girl or anyone like that was the worst thing any person could do. She could see how Keith now seeing his actions in hindsight might see her shivering as fear instead of a reaction from his cold gloves, or her needing to stay still for the sake of their lives; as a way to trap her into not fighting him. Keith still trembling against her hand, making her feel guilty for her earlier amusement.

"Woah, Keith, calm down" Pidge softly hushed, her hands gently patting over his chest and shoulders till she could feel his head gently pulling his head down as she rested her forehead against the forehead of his helmet, trying to make him focus on her over whatever thoughts were rampaging through his head.

"I know you weren't feeling me up, I know you were only trying to get your weapon" she softly assured, his trembling subsiding a little.

"I'm sorry Pidge, I didn't think... you know I would never force that kind of thing on you," Keith told her quietly, and though she couldn't see his face she could still hear the guilt gripping voice.

"I know" she whispered back, nodding her head against his helmet. "Just make sure to think about it in the future, you were lucky it happened with me this time"

"Lucky?" he questioned, Pidge hearing a little angry slip into his tone.

"Yes," she answered nodding against his helmet again "because I know you Keith, you're one of the few people in this galaxy I really trust. I understand you did what you did to try and help the situation, I never once thought you were doing it for... that other reason" She could feel a little extra weight against her head, figuring he was now letting himself rest his head against hers.

"Also do you think for a second if you were crossing a line, I wouldn't be grabbing my own weapon and shocking the daylights out of you?" she questioned with a raised brow.

Pidge could hear Keith let out an amused huff in his helmet, his trembling casing.

"Pidge…" Keith started than paused, his tone suggesting he wanted to ask a question. PIdge staying quiet giving him time to properly form his question or think through his words. "...Can I hug you?"

She felt a smile tug on her lips, "Always" she replied raising onto her tiptoes to slide her arms around his neck, feeling his shoulders slump as he gently wraps an arm around her waist, his other arm wrapping over her back, and ever so lightly pulling her closer to him.

She had never gotten a hug from Keith before, surprised with how tender and gentle he was hugging her, wondering if all his hugs were like this.

The door whooshed opened behind Pidge, hearing a feminine squeak and a stumbling apology before the door quickly whooshed closed again.

"We need to get out of this closet" Keith muttered.

"Agree" Pidge replied nodding against his shoulder, his arms lingering around her for a few more seconds before slowly letting her go.


	4. Act Like Keith

It was a frustrating process of sneaking and hiding to get to the room they needed. Time was of the essence, but not getting caught was more important.

The two managing to sneak into a private room with its occupant busy with the ball, and their personal computer free to hack.

"Alright time for the fun part" Pidge deviously smirked, diving into the computer system like it was second nature. Fingers racing over the control panel.

Even without the translator system; like the one she programmed into her paladin suit, she had been given a lot of detail on where to find the files the blades needed. Plus with all the Galra systems she's been hacking and her own personal research she had a pretty good grasp on the Galran language.

Pidge carefully pulling out a small chip from her dress's belt and slipped it into the computer, transferring what the blades needed onto it. While the transfer was happening she carefully went searching through the systems for anything else useful. Finding something she wasn't expecting.

"Keith, They have a captured Blade here," Pidge said searching deeper into the system.

"What?" Keith questioned, "Kolivan didn't say anything about a missing Blade or one being captured."

"Well, their here… in one of the lower levels" Pidge pulling up more detail maps, trying to figure out the best route than getting some codes for key doors "alright I have the maintenance shaft codes, if we take the one two doors from this room we'll have a clear path to where their's being kept"

"Pidge we can't go after him-"

"I know, I'm not wearing the right type of equipment for a rescue mission" Pidge cut in, figuring that's where his argument was going "but I have an idea to make this dress quieter and more manageable, the security logs show he has minimal security around him, probably because of the ball and-"

"Pidge we can't go after them, we have to focus on our own mission," Keith tells her with a firm tone, grabbing one of her wrists and stopping her from typing more.

Pidge's eyes finally pulling away from the screen and looked up at Keith, her voice didn't seem to work making little more than a small sound from deep in her throat. This wasn't Keith… this wasn't the Keith she knew. He would never ever hold himself back from saving someone.

Her hand shook in his hand and for a moment Keith thought he might have scared her.

Pidge wrenching her hand out of his hold and shoving his arm away from her. Her honey brown eyes burning as she glared up at him.

"I am not going to leave an ally behind" Pidge growled "If Shiro was captured, and someone had the chance to save him" her honey brown eyes burning as she glared up at him "wouldn't want them to take that chance?"

Keith's body stiffens, showing his surprise with the question, but what really made Pidge's blood boil was that he was hesitating. How much had the blades of Marmora changed him?

"Arug!" she aggressively shouted, Keith wasn't himself! She would never call Keith predictable, but there were always reliable consistencies to him.

Pidge bent over and pulled up the skirt of her dress; Pidge noticed Keith take a half a step away from her, probably unease still about what happened before, but she couldn't care right now. Pidge pulling out her hidden weapon and using the blade end to start cutting down the first laying of her dress.

"Pidge what are you doing!?" Keith asked startled.

"I'm making this dress more manageable for the maintenance shaft" Pidge huff working on creating a cut down the second layer of her dress.

"Pidge, this is insane! Your dress isn't made for combat, we don't even have a way to get him out"

"The maintenance shaft also leads to where the ships are, it's a longer route but manageable" She answered, cutting through the third layer

"what if this is a trap, We do this and we could blow our cover forever the blades will never be able to use these aliases again."

"There were three levels of authentication on the file, it. was. real. I'm not stupid" she grumbled "and the blades will find other aliases to get into these parties, they can't replace a person's life" she huff and grunted as she finished the last layer and started cutting a long strip out of the lowest layer.

"Pidge what has gotten into, why are you acting like this?" Keith questioned.

Pidge whipped her head up, the burning in her gaze turning into a blazing fire. "Because someone here needs to act like the real Keith Kogane, and clearly it's not going to be you!" she snapped.

Her focused quickly returning to her dress, struggling as she tried grouping up and twisting all the layers behind her, revealing her legs and the knee-high socks.

Keith's shoulders slumped, both hurt and confused over her words, but questions could wait till later, they didn't have a lot of time.

Keith walked past her...Pidge's heart tightening, scared that Keith had changed so much that even his loyalty, their friendship, all of what he used to be had changed as well.

Keith's hands gently encompass hers "let me tie it back for you," he said from behind her.

Pidge was happily surprised with the action, only nodding, carefully slipping her hands out of his hands. Letting Keith take hold of the many layers. "Why…" she started but she wasn't sure which question she really wanted to ask, why are you helping me, why didn't you leave, why did you have a change of heart.

"I promised, nothing would stop me from being by your side tonight…" he replied, repeating his words from earlier. Bending down on one knee behind her, twisting the layers as tight as he could manage.

The angry vibration in her body easing away, her upper body twisting around a little to hand him a long strip of fabric. "You sure?" Pidge questioned.

"I'm sure" he nodded taking the strip and using it to tie up the tighten fabric behind her. "After all if you're going to be Keith, you're going to need someone to help keep you calm and out of too much trouble," he said standing up as Pidge turned to face him.

"I'm not smart enough to be your Pidge," Keith said making her smile slightly, the magenta gloss making her lips shine "but I think I can manage being your Lance" he replied.

Pidge laughed "Well, we already got the arguing part down" she smirked, making a smile slip out behind his helmet.

Pidge flipping the veil back using some of the pins in her hair to pin the veil back and keep it out of her eyes. "Now let's see how well we can get this job done, using the fire and ice bromance method," she said holding her whip-like weapon at the ready.

"...What's a bromance?" Keith questioned.


	5. Rescue

Keith had to rely heavily on Pidge's navigation as they went through the maintenance shaft.

Pidge needing to depend on him when it came to her getting over or around obstacles in the shaft. Pidge so small and light it was easy to lift her or help to carry her over something.

A Bigger role for him came into play when they got to the holding area, only two guards stationed near the holding cell. Keith, taking out one with a quick sneak attack while Pidge hid and used her electrified weapon to shock and take out the other.

"Alright tie them up while I get into this door," Pidge said going to the control panel and quickly typing into it, using the code she found on the computer before to get in. Keith using the guards' own whip-like weapons to bind them.

The door slides open to reveal a very beat up Galra, strapped to a board bloody and bruised. Pidge felt her stomach twist into a knot she would never get used to sights like this or she at least hope she would never.

She let Keith go in first, giving her stomach and mind a moment to calm, while Keith made sure the coast of clear of any other guards or personal they didn't know about. Luckily for them, it was only the prisoned blade inside.

Pidge switched her focus back to the digital pad near the door, locking said door, into open mode and checking the system to hide their tracks and to prevent any possible traps on the digital side of things.

"Yo-you're a blade" the prisoner chocked out seeing Keith's blade, Keith spotting the agents blade on a table not too far away with some… other instruments Keith rather not know the purpose for.

"Yes I'm Keith, we're here to get you out" Keith replied using his Blade full form to cut through the metal binding, carefully helping him to sit up. The small action making some of his barely sealed wounds re-open and others already open, to bleed more.

"I'm Mance" he grunted, using one beaten arm to hold the other arm that was even more scared and bruised.

Keith handing Mance his Blade, the fellow agent taking the dagger. Testing it by turning the dagger to its full sword form before changing it back. It was a way to make sure the blade was his and to prove to Keith he truly was a fellow agent. Keith and Mance share a small nod before Mance carefully slide his blade into a hidden sheath on his left forearm.

"Hold still, we'll need to bandage you up," Pidge said entering the room.

"It-s alright I can still move and walk" the agent assured, shaking as he stood up.

"That's great... but we don't need you bleeding out and creating a trail while were escaping" Pidge replied flatly, unimpressed with the heroics of pretending he was alright.

Mance hesitant, though he was taller than both her and Keith, the agent seems to deflate under her unwavering gaze, and reluctantly nodded accepting her reasoning, slowly sitting back down with Keith's help.

"Keith, can I borrow your blade?" Pidge asked outstretching her hand towards him; his blade would be easier to cut with than with the small one at the end of her weapon. Pidge using her other hand to grab the bottom layer of her dress stretching it out while trying not to pull it out of the tie in the back.

Keith turned his blade back into its dagger form than handing it to her. Keith caught the fellow Blade's Agent gazing at them wide-eyed, but the agent quickly looked away when Keith turned to look at him, appearing to be slightly…. Embarrassed?

Pidge quickly cutting the undermost layer of her dress into long strips of cloth before handing it to Keith. Cutting as many as she could as he started bandaging Mance's major injuries.

Pidge noticed the Agent staring at her hand as she handed the dagger back to Keith; Pidge assuming Mance was wondering if she was part Galra as well. Keith taking the blade without even looking at her, sliding it back into his belt as if it was second nature.

"I'm almost done, go make sure our route is clear," Keith said glancing over at Pidge, she simply nodding before going back out the room and finding the nearest open system to hack.

"You two work well together," Mance told him.

"Thanks" Keith replied, more focused on bandaging Mance's wounds than his words.

"Keith, everything's ready," Pidge said popping her head into the room a few minutes later.

"Come on let's go," Keith told the fellow agent, helping him stand, Pidge leading them to a different set of maintenance shafts. Keith taking one more look around to make sure that the cost was clear, and no trail was made, before slipping in after them.

They made their way to the maintenance grate that was the closest to their parked ship. Pidge explaining the plan to Mance and when he needed to rush to their ship, the pilot was also a blade's member and should be able to help him get in and hid, as she's already messed with the camera's in the area and left a blind spot from the shaft to the ship. The best moment to do this would be while Keith and her distracted the guards.

They made sure Mance understood the plan and left with the means to open the doors, before leaving him at the spot and made their way to the exit they needed one that would open along the long hallway they originally entered the gala from.

Once they were a fair distance away "so… mind telling me how we're going to distract the guards?" Keith questioned.

"Easy the same way we came in, it's not unusual for a famously moody duchess like Rukul to leave a gathering early," Pidge replied with a dramatic wave as if to fan herself. "As we go through the security again, I'll start ranting and making a fuss and should get everyone's attention on me, hopefully, long enough for Mance to sneak in"

"So you're channelling your inner Lance now?" Keith questioned teasingly.

Pidge let out a single laugh "Maybe a little of him for the dramatic flair, but I wouldn't count you out for your public outburst, they're pretty attention-grabbing as well," She replied, and not even a beat later she could practically feel the argumentative reply building up in Keith.

She acted quickly and put a hand against his chest pausing his argument with the touch and stopping both of their steps for the time being. "I'm pretty bad about them as well, I'm just saying you're not immune to them" she clarified.

His shoulders relaxed and his chest seemed to deflate a little, and nodded; he understood she didn't mean it as an insult just a fact, which… he really couldn't argue.

Pidge smiled, pulling her hand away and continuing their way down the passageway again.

Keith wondering when she got so good at reading him, she could both rile him up, her words hitting a mental bullseye one moment than using her words and touch to calm him in the next.

She had a gift for deducing peoples actions and traits, figuring out the core reasons behind them. He wouldn't say she was good with people; much like him, neither had any natural instinct when it came to human...humanoid interactions, but she had a way to make up for it.

She had the ability to break down people... like they were an equation. Depending on how much time she was around an individual and if enough evidence had been presented, she could figure out the source to a lot of peoples motivations, emotions, and reactions. Abmitivily Keith was a little envious she could do that.

She probably figured out a way to calm him just by observing how Shiro interacted with him, and Shiro's methods for calming him down. Then mimicked what he did while also making the method her own. The height difference alone forced her to touch his chest or arms instead of his shoulders. Pidge was always straightforward and factual with him which didn't have the same emotional impact as Shiro's words often did...

But they made sense; there was a logic behind them, and Pidge was so straightforward and honest, there were no guessing games when it came to her thoughts or feelings, and as overwhelming as her raw emotions could be at times, it was relieving not to having to play guessing games…

"Keith, how do your gloves look?" Pidge asked stopping again as she untied the twisted mess of her dress and tried to make it look as presentable as possible, well at least the topmost layer.

"A little bloody" Keith admitted taking a look at his gloved hands, Pidge pulling off her own gloves and holding them in her mouth, taking a few steps towards him, using the cloth that tied the dress up to clean his hand.

Keith had a few questions buzzing in his head that he wanted to ask her, ones that had been in his mind for too long... and a few more rapidly crawling their way to the surface thanks to this mission. It would be best to ask her, Pidge would answer them honestly in private, no social anxieties or individuals trustworthiness to worry about. He just hoped to get the chance before the blades whisked him away to another mission, or before his own nerves stopped him from asking once again.

"Aldight dha looks ood" Pidge muttered around the gloves in her mouth before stuffing the bloody cloth into a hiding spot along the walls, she would like to leave no evidence but it was riskier to take it with them than to leave it.

Pidge pulling out a little spray bottle from another hidden part along with her dress belt. Spraying her hands with it before rubbing her hands together to make sure the stuff absorbed into her skin then putting her long gloves back on, making sure the fabric smoothed over her skin.

Keith realized he was watching her fingers graze over the fabric on her arm and quickly glanced away, not knowing why the action seemed so… interesting?

"What's the spray for?" he questioned.

"It's to make me smell more like Rukul, some Galra have pretty strong noses and it was a risk for my scent to smell too differently from Rukul" She Explained, glance over at him than down to his gloved hands.

"I need your hands again," Pidge stated not asked, grabbing one hand of his, instead of waiting for him to give her one, and he pulled his hand out of hers. Pidge paused that stabbing feeling in her chest returning, this was another show that Keith didn't trust her like he used to.

"What are you doing?" Keith questioned.

"Galra with sensitive noses will be able to smell the blood on your hands, it would be better for your hand to smell like Rukul than to smell like blood" Pidge explained looking up at him, letting out a long sigh, trying to breathe through her frustration and hurt…

Pidge's gaze made him feel like he got a punch in the gut, the look was all too similar to how she would look at him when he was the leader.

He wordlessly handed her his hands, not trusting his voice to sound… right in this moment.

She took his hands in her smaller ones and sprayed them, before hiding the vile back into her belt and rolled up her weapon and hide it back under her dress, taking extra care to make sure it was strapped on right.

Keith handing her his dagger before she could ask for it. Pidge taking it with only a slight nod as her hands wrapped around the handle hid it under her dress.

Keith and Pidge never needed to talk to understand each other or to keep each other company but this silent felt muggy and heavy, like a wall between them instead of the open comfort it once was, and they both could feel it.

Keith bending down to help press out some of the wrinkles along the dress's fabric. Pidge letting him deal with that as she moved the vail back over eyes.

"Stay still and look at me" Pidge requested, Keith looking up at her more out of confusion than compliance, she couldn't see his face but must have been able to tell by his body language as she added "I need to use your visor as a mirror so I can fix my hair."

Pidge starting to fix the loose hairs of the wing and smooth or tuck them back into place. Her eyes looking right at his but not… she couldn't see his eyes only her reflection but being this close he could see her's even past the vile.

There was a focus to them but also twitches of suppressed emotions that he couldn't read.

"Pidge…" He started but stopped him self-surprised with how weak and emotional his voice sounded.

"Don't" she replied her voice and tone like a quick gab made to stop him if he hadn't stopped himself. Pidge breathing through her noise than out through her mouth "not now… later" she suggested sound softer almost pleading.

He nodded, she was right this wasn't the time for questions. Freezing as she hugged him around that neck as if to seal the promise of talking later. His hands gently resting on her lower back over her dress in return.

Pidge pulled away first, he didn't know why but his hands felt heavier as he pulled them away from her.

"Now I need you to act like my knight again, and not be my Lance, I don't need you to flirt with the female guards," Pidge said with a teasing smile.

"Couldn't be that much like Lance even if I tried" He replied with a playful huff as he stood up, the heaviness between them easing but still lingering around them.

"Let's go, my Knight," she said turning to face her back towards him again.

"Of course my Duchess" he replied.


	6. Escape

Pidge had a lot riding on these next few moments, she needed to distract all the guards, and do so in such a way that won't get them arrested or blow their cover. Not to mention a Blade member's escape and life was reliant on how well she could get all of their attention on her.

Her head kept buzzing with all the different ways this plan of hers could go wrong and it would be her fault. Pidge couldn't let those worries cloud her brain, shouldn't let her own wavering nerves control her actions.

So in an effort to distracted her ever formulaic mind, she mentally choreographing her upcoming rant to the guards. Forcing other parts of her mind to focus on her body, making sure not to sway the dress too much as she walked trying to keep the cut in her dress as un-noticeable as possible. Tapping her finger against her skirt, keeping her steps in rhythm to when she entered, she couldn't seem any different from when they began the gala.

Then as she and Keith entered the hanger, nearly all eyes were suddenly on them, neither one of them knowing why. Pidge had to resist the urge to pause and force her feet to keep moving forward as if nothing was unusual.

The plan was for her to be the distraction, but to have all their attention off the bat was unusual. Pidge mentally prepared herself for the worst; a part of her doubting the escaped prisoner had been noticed so soon but refused to rule it out.

On the positive side of things, she couldn't rule out the guards being surprised by their presence, for party related reasons, most likely not expecting a guest to leave so early.

The muttering and whispers didn't help her nerves either, watching the few guards that weren't looking their way get elbowed by ones who were and not so 'discreetly' pointing at them, sharing sly smirks or small chuckles.

Something was definitely up, part of her brain already calculation best spots for cover if a shootout suddenly took place.

"Leaving so soon Duchess?" the head guard questioned, trying to seem respectful, but the twitches at the corner of his lips made it clear he was fighting with his own amusement.

What that amusement was, Pidge rather gets out than find out.

"Yes, I've had quite enough tonight" She huffed in the snootiest way she could muster.

"Yeah I'm sure you have" she heard one guard mutter off to the side, another guard next to them elbow the first one sharply.

Pidge's curiosity was peaking, she'd admit not having much experience dealing with members of the Galra Empire, but if they were setting up a trap, or thought her and Keith were any kind of threat. She had a hard time believing they would be so…. Juvenile right now.

"Please step through the examination area" The Gaurd in front of her instructed.

Pidge simply nodded and follow through the scanner, pausing on the other side waiting for the standard pat down. He patted down her dress, his hand lingering on the cut along the seam all the way from the waist to the frilly ends.

She had an excuse ready on her lips for the question that would be coming.

"Heh, I see your duchess likes it rough" the guard chuckled glancing back at Keith.

That… was not the question she was expecting.

Keith remained unmoving, not sure what the guard was talking about and the stifling chuckles from the other guards made Keith all the more confused about how to react.

"Are you done?" she questioned impatiently, needing to play her part of a moody duchess. A growing part of her needing to get out of here quickly before someone noticed something.

As much as she wanted to give Mance as much time as possible to get to the ship, the longer they lingered here the higher chance their rescue would be noticed or their covers would be blown.

"Yes move forward" the guard instructed Pidge glancing around, most of the guards were staring at her and Keith, muttering between each other in hushed whispers and muffled chuckles. It was annoying not knowing the reason, but at least they had the guards attention and didn't need to worry about this being a trap or attacking them… at least for the time being.

Even when Keith went through they gave him no more than a customary pat down on him. Which was quite different than how they treated him coming into the gala.

She could hear one guard mumbling something that made the few others around him muffle their snickering, Keith tilting his head slightly, a gesture he did when he was confused about something. So whatever they said Keith didn't understand it, even while being in earshot.

Keith was allowed through, Pidge waiting till he was behind her before approaching their ship, the ramp allowing her to step into the ship with little fuss Keith stepping in behind her.

The door to their shuttle closed and both of them let out a sigh of relief.

"Arnek did you get Mance?" Keith asked approaching the cockpit as Pidge took her seat and bulked herself in.

"Yes, he's hiding in the storage compartment till we get to a safer zone, we can't afford anyone possibly seeing him if we get randomly checked by a patrol" their pilot replied.

Keith knew that wouldn't be great for Mance's injuries but being discovered would be worst, Keith taking his seat next to Pidge, as their ship took off, leaving at a steady pace as to not draw suspicion to them.

"Did those security guards seem… odd to you?" Keith questioned.

Pidge quickly nodded, "Yes, they seemed amused by us, for some reason" she huffed throwing her hands up before plopping them back down onto her dress "but I don't know why… it's not like oh haha we have a great trap for you; kind of amused it was more-"

"Childish" Keith provided.

"That's a good way of putting it" Pidge muttered with a nod, still wondering what the guards were thinking and talking about "what did they say to you when they were patting you down?" she questioned.

"Bet you showed that Duchess a good time" Keith replied.

"As in a good time at the party?" she questioned and he shrugged unsure if that was the case or not.

"Did they say much to you?" Keith questioned

"No, more like statements like how he thought it was funny that I had enough tonight, and that I like it rough?" she replied confused on what he meant by the last statement.

"Yeah I heard those comments too" Keith nodded glancing down at the tare in her dress "Maybe he assumed you partied hard at the Gala because your dress was ripped?" Keith guessed.

Pidge shook her head looking down at her dress thoughtfully "no that doesn't make any sense he didn't seem to notice the rip till he patted me down, so that wouldn't make any sense about me 'having enough' comment or how most of them, almost instantly became interested in us when we entered the hanger" she pointed out.

"Well as long as it was only something in relation to the gala and not the escaped prisoner or our covers being blown, it probably doesn't matter" Keith shrugged.

"Yeah I guess that's true" she admitted, as long as whatever was amusing the guards didn't affect them later, she guessed it didn't really matter.

She should have remembered the 'ripple effect' principles.


	7. Time to Talk

Once they were far enough into 'safe space' a very loose term in these waring times, Keith took over piloting their Shuttle.

Arnek, their pilot; had more medic experience than either Keith or Pidge so it made sense for him to treat Mance's injuries, Pidge assisted where she could.

Keith's helmet was off and placed to the side, making sure it was still in arms reach. The thing was uncomfortable and now that they were far enough away the disguises wouldn't be needed.

At the corner of his eye, he saw Pidge entering the cockpit, tapping the button on their side to close the sliding door behind her.

"Mance is stable and should make a full recovery. Though he'll be a lot better once we get him to a location with proper medical equipment" Pidge informed Keith, her dress more torn up than before. Keith could only guess they ran out of gauze and had to improvise with her dress to stop the bleeding and stabilize other injuries.

"That's good to hear" Keith nodded before looking back out at space, Pidge sitting down in the co-pilot seat. He was a little surprised, the short girl was choosing to sit up here with him, instead of staying in the back… though he didn't know what kind of mess was back there either so it could have been more about the smell or sights than the company.

"You made the right call going after him" Keith added glancing over at her.

"Somebody needed to" Pidge replied dryly keeping her gaze looking out the window, out at the blur of stars they passed by.

Keith couldn't help but wonder if Pidge even enjoyed his company any more, on the most part they got along on this mission, but Pidge definitely showed times where she was clearly… not happy with him. He wanted to ask her so many questions but now that he was alone with her, able to talk his mind felt blank.

"So…" Pidge began glancing over at him "are we going to talk or…" Keith looked over at her a little started not expecting the suggestion, a part of him wondering if Pidge gained the ability to read minds.

She paused for a few seconds waiting for a reply before she chose to continue "remember in the tunnel I suggested we talk later?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Of course she made a plan and went through with it, Pidge's good like that, reliable like that "it seemed like you wanted to say something back their" she added glancing down at her hands and pulling off her gloves stained with blood now, as if the action would trigger his memory when he never forgot in the first place.

"Right…" Keith nodded, how long had he waited to talk to her in private, the cockpit now closed off from the back, Pidge most likely doing so on purpose so they could have some time to talk. While keeping prying ears or eyes off of them. Damn Keith wanted, needed to talk to her for so long, but the questions, the words he wanted to say felt jumbled and heavy in his throat, it felt almost impossible to push out.

"Alright, I'll start" Pidge stated, a frustrated edge to her tone "When did you stop trusting me?"

Keith felt like the wind was suddenly knocked out of him, a part of him hating how pidge's words could feel like punches, ones that often hurt way more than any physical ones. "What…" he managed to push out, looking at her stunned. Keith trusted Pidge, he didn't trust many people, but he knew he trusted Pidge.

"Pidge, I trust you" Keith swore, her eyes narrowing on him, she didn't believe him "honestly I'm more surprised you still trust me" Keith confessed.

"You sure as heck didn't show any sign of trusting me" Pidge replied with a growl, Keith recognized that growl, it was too little high pitch to be anger. So she must have been trying to mask her hurt.

She looked away from him her hands tightly gripping her torn up dress "And of course I still trust you, I haven't 'forgotten' how to trust you"

"What does that mean" Keith question, she was hurt with an edge of anger that much was clear to him, but didn't know what he did that caused it.

"Name once during this mission you trusted me" Pidge shot back "without needing me to explain myself first."

Keith opened his mouth expecting the answer to come easily to him, they had trusted each other and communicated without the needs for words plenty of times before through glances or guiding touches. Keith had to shut his mouth he could name a few times where she grabbed him but he let never her take the lead, or followed her without a second thought... He hadn't been trusting her.

"I didn't realize I was doing that..." he answered, the revelation hitting him hard, Keith had been so worried about Pidge not trusting him, that he never even thought the trust issues he saw between them was on his end, not her's.

"You haven't been realizing a lot lately" Pidge stated, with a frustrated sigh.

"...what do you mean?" Keith asked, Shiro hadn't really mentioned anything but he honestly hadn't spent that much time around him either, not since joining the blades.

"Have you realized how much you've changed since joining the blades?" Pidge questioned, her only reply was silence, as he waited for her to elaborate.

"You turned down helping someone in desperate need, you hesitated when I gave you a hypothetical questioned about saving Shiro," Pidge said her outrage from before came boiling back. "The Keith I know… knew, wouldn't hesitate to help save lives"

Keith's head whipped towards her, his gut twisting and burning at her words"I was trying to stay focused on the mission, that information could save a lot of lives. I was trying to think logically" he defended

"Thinking logically doesn't mean you turn off your heart" Pidge snapped back "and I'm not done, as soon as Shiro came back you kept spending more and more time as a blade than our leader even though you were growing to be a great leader we all believed in... I was so proud of you." her last words made both their chest tighten and surge with pain, but Pidge wasn't done.

"I was so happy when you came to me, asking for you to teach you some hacking tricks. I thought it was your way to learn more and become a better leader, not so you could do more missions with the blades" she growled, embitter hurt tears pooling in her eyes.

"You used me, then turned your back on the team" Pidge shoulders were shaking the grip on her dress tightening tears streaking down her cheeks and dripping down onto her dress "hoping the black lion would accept Shiro again, so you could leave!" Pidge had kept her mouth shut for too long, kept her feelings bottled up as much as she could, but now they were exploding.

Keith looked over at Pidge stunned he wasn't good with emotions, but her words felt like she had impaled him through the chest, the shooting curling pain in his torso felt overwhelming, and his stomach felt like it had been punched more times than he could count.

He was used to other people turning his back on him, he never thought never intended to do the same to Pidge and rest of the team, Keith just wanted to do what was best for them, he didn't want to leave, he never meant to hurt Pidge.

"I miss you… the old you, the one who put lives before duty, who didn't hesitate to help someone even if there was only a small chance of it succeeding. The Keith that would keep learning and pushing forward to make himself better. The Keith that would help me learn new fighting moves, during ungodly early mornings, and doing the same stupid move over and over again until it became instinct. Spending late nights with me creating programs for you to practice hacking on or just keeping me company while I tried to make something for the team." Pidge started crying more, biting her lip so she wouldn't start sobbing "I miss the Keith that trusted me" she chocked out.

That last string in Keith broke, in one fluid motion, he flicked the autopilot on, collapsing onto one knee beside Pidge's seat. His arms pulling her into a tight hug, holding the small girl's body close to his as if she could slip through his arms if he wasn't careful. His whole shaking as he held her, resting his head onto her shoulder.

"Keith?" Pidge questioned her crying pausing, most;y out of surprised than anything else, she had never had Keith hug her like this before.

"I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you, to make you feel used, I just wanted to do what was best for everyone," he explained holding onto her a little tighter.

Pidge blinking a few times, the tears clearing from her eyes, as she twisted herself to better face him, his voice sounding so…shattered.

"Shiro was so angry and frustrated after the Black Lion rejected him I just wanted to fix things and Lance was so scared about not having a place in Voltron, I… I at least could join the blades, I could still help" Keith explained, gripping onto the back of her dress tighter, he absolutely hated himself for making Pidge feel abandoned, and used.

He hated the people that made him feel that way growing up, bouncing from foster home to foster home, people using him for a paycheck and then tossing him to the next person when he was considered too much trouble. He never thought he would do the same to anyone else, epically not to the few people he truly cared about.

His body tensed feeling her arms move, expecting her to push him away. He wouldn't blame her, he probably deserved it, but he just couldn't physically bring himself to let her go.

Pidge's arms snaked under his arms and around his torso, resting her head on his shoulder. "You're so dumb, you should have told us, we could have helped figure out something, not everything had to fall onto your shoulders just because were the pilot of the black lion," she told him in a soft scolding tone.

Keith releasing a breath he didn't realize he was holding, thankful she didn't reject him, or declared her hatred for him "I'm sorry, I've never been the best at planning."

"Than you should have figured out sooner that it wasn't a good idea and talk to us" Pidge huffed against his shoulder.

"I should have left the planning to you right?" He questioned with a soft smile "let you figure out the math"

"Yes, you should of listen to Lance and left the math to me" She replied.

Keith pulled away from Pidge to looking at her, surprised, a little mad and feeling kind of betrayed "I was the one that told him that!" he corrected.

"I know, Lance told me what you said," she answered, with a small triumphant smile.

Keith blushing slightly realizing her misdirection was done on purpose.

"Just making sure my point is hammered into your head" she replied her smile growing into a slightly amused smirk.

"I take it I shouldn't tell Lance to do one thing then do the complete opposite?" Keith questioned, the burst of emotion left him feeling tired and oldy relaxed as well, leaning down to gently rest his head against Pidge's.

"Yeah, something like that" she replied, nodded slightly against his forehead her eyes glancing up at him.

He could see the same emotional drain he felt reflecting in her honey brown eyes. Holding so much emotion back, for such a naturally expressive person must have not been easy on her either. Keith wished they had gotten the chance to talk about this sooner, he hated the thought that she had this lingering pain inside of her for so long.

Keith's gaze flickering down to her painted lips, recalling again how the magenta colour made them shine and stand out in a surprisingly pretty way, for a moment he wondered-

"Keith hows-" Arnek began his question as he opened the door, freezing in his spot, as he absorb the intimate way the two humans were holding each other, the two humans looking up at the door surprised with the sudden intrusion "My apologies I didn't mean to step in on a moment with you mate" Arnek apologized quickly stepping back and closing the door again.

Keith and Pidge stared at the door confused, it taking a few moments for Arneks words to sink in after the surprised faded, then their emotions spiked into embarrassment as they whipped their heads to look at the other, a deep red painting both their cheeks.

"I need to get back to piloting" Keith burst out scrambling away from her and back into the pilot seat.

"Right, I'll keep an eye on the scanners" Pidge quickly replied turning her self back around to face the console opening as many screens as possible on her side.

"Thanks" Keith replied, the word stumbling out of his mouth at a much faster pace than he normally spoke.

"No p" Pidge replied, cutting off her own words when she felt her voice start to squeak.

The two not daring to look at the other, mentally fighting down their fiery blushes, at the implications of being called mates.

If you can, please help keep my creative juices flowing with Ko-fi!:  
Ko-fi.-co-m/-cacophonyeg (minus the -)


	8. Reflection

Summary: Pidge takes a quiet moment to reflect on herself and on the talk she had with Keith. Through Mance she learns something very interesting about how the Marmora members view their blades, and how it brings a new meaning behind some of Keith's past and present actions.

A/N:Thanks to SailorSnowflack, Haleygur7, Cayla Mea, and Ayeshaazam1998 for reviewing the last chapter! =3

* * *

Pidge walked into the back part of their shuttle ship, trying to be as quiet as possible; Mance resting on a folded back chair. She wasn't sure if he was sleeping or resting with his eyes close, but Pidge let him be.

She made her way over to one of the windows. They were at the randevu, their ship parked near an asteroid field, far away from most galra patrol sectors.

Arnek needed to send a coded message through the blades private channels. The procedure was to confirm they were, who they were. The blades of Marmora, always did their best not to be found and to protect Voltron.

She couldn't blame them for being cautious. If their allies, even her team knew the kinds of backups she had in place. For everyone... for any one of them to betray her or the team, she wondered if they would ever trust her again.

If someone asked her when she stopped trusting people, or maybe the better question was; when did she lose the capability to completely trust someone? She couldn't give an answer, not sure herself.

A part of her wanted to place the blame on the Kerberos mission when she lost two people she completely trusted. But there was always this little voice in the back of her mind, one that knew her trust issues were embedded into her a long time before that.

To put it simply, her mistrust had only grown since the Kerberos mission when she stopped trusting everyone. Spreading over her mind after the fight with Zarkon and they lost Shiro. Flourishing in her being as Keith rejected his role as their leader. Blooming and rooting deep into her heart when Keith left…

Yet somehow, deep down she still trusted him without hesitation, even Keith had expected her to lose trust in him... Logically Pidge should have, she had every right to build her walls back up against him, make him work to break them back down. Pidge couldn't logically explain the reason why, but it only took a few gestures or words that were so uniquely Keith; in how unsure but earnest they were, to make her walls crumble just enough to make her instincts trust him.

Logically; through facts, and experience, Pidge knew Keith would never let her be hurt… at least not physically.

Pidge's eyes flickered to the cockpit door, before gazing out the window once more. It was nice and relieving to finally talk to Keith. Have the chance to get her feelings out in the open, to tell him what he's put her through how he hurt her, nothing left buried inside of her to fester.

Even if it left her feeling tired, her emotions feel numb and burned raw from the explosions of emotions.

Pidge let out a small sigh gazing out at the asteroids slowly tumbling by. One question still lingering inside of her... why did Keith stop trusting her? What made him build up walls against her, what had she done to cause them? His words about wanting to do what he thought was best for the team linger in her mind. Pidge begins to think and wonder if at the same moment he lost his place within Voltron, he lost trust in all of them.

A paranoid part of her piped up, saying it might just be her he lost trust in. That she just wanted to make up a reason it wasn't just her fault. The thought didn't linger long as her logical side pointed out she had done everything she could to support him. Though she never hid her disappointment and frustration over his focus going towards the blades more than the team and even could admit to herself there were times she was a little too cold towards him.

Her logical side reminding her that Keith's own choices played a large factor as well, choices that only he could take responsibility and ownership of. Choices Pidge couldn't have changed even if she found a way to go back in time.

She let out a soft sigh resting her forehead against the window, the surface so much cooler than the feeling of Keith's head resting against hers. Her mind playing over his words. Recalling how tightly he hugged her, the way his body and arms shook with emotion and restraining himself from holding her any tighter. The Look in his lavender eyes giving her hope that things might finally change, maybe build back what they had before, or at least try to make things better between them.

Pidge let out a long wistful sigh, her breath fogging up most of her own reflection. All she could do now was wait and see if Keith would try.

"Is something wrong?" the groggy voice of Mance questioned.

The human girl lifted her head looking back at the injured blade, giving him a slight nod "yes, everything's okay" she assured, "Arnek is signalling the other blades; that we're ready for pick up."

"And you're here, to watch over me?" Mance questioned.

"No, well maybe partly, I mostly got kicked out because I'm not an official blade member" Pidge replied.

"Ah I see," Mance hummed in understanding "if you are not a blade member then why are you helping us? Is it because your mate; Keith, is one?"

The reflex to deny Keith was her mate quickly bubbled up in her throat, but the questions flooding her mind drowned and washed the reflex away. "Why do you think we're mates?" Pidge questioned turning around to better face him.

"He allows you to hold and use his blade**" Mance stated as if that was an unmistakable sign.

"Okay…" she replied confused why he seemed so sure, "Is that special?" Pidge questioned, she knew Keith's blade was very important to him; it was his only connection, only clue to who his mother was.

Pidge honestly never put much thought into how every blade could symbolize something cultural within the group.

"Yes," Mance quickly answer, realization played across his features "right you are not a member so you wouldn't know…" he hummed pausing and thinking for a few minutes.

Pidge assumed since they were a secret society, Mance was weighing out what to tell her and what should remain confidential.

"How much do you know about our blades?" Mance questioned.

"It's a symbol of your organization and verification of each member, along with a way to test new members 'awaking' " Pidge replied, but truthfully didn't really understand how awaking worked… or how it triggered… or allow a member to change their blade from a dagger to a sword once awakened.

Pidge mentally filed it under the blood magic.

"Yes our blades do have that purpose, but it is also an extension of ourselves, not just in the battle sense but in a spiritual sense," Mance explained.

Pidge frowned tilting her head to the side "I'm sorry I don't understand what that means" she confessed, looking a little puzzled.

"When we die, often all that's left is our blade, a part of yourself that remains to continue the fight, and to be given to the ones that come after us. So an aspect of yourself can aid them in future fights and endeavours" Mance explained.

Pidge still felt puzzled "so when you say your blade is an extension of yourselves…"

"Each blade holds a part of the wielder's soul" Mance answered "along with fragments of the ones that came before us, this is why a wielder will only allow a mate, their children or someone in those regards to ever touch their blades"

"Oh…" Pidge hummed and nodded, she wasn't sure if Keith knew about that, or even if he believed in it.

On the other hand, Keith did view his blade as his most precious possession. Even if her friend didn't believe in the blade being a part of his soul, the level of personal importance the blade held to Keith, was on the same level as any other Marmora member.

Pidge turned to face the cockpit door as it whooshed open.

"The castle of lions should be here soon" Arnek informed her.

Pidge nodded in conformation, her thoughts elsewhere at the moment. Glancing past Arnek and into the cockpit.

"You can return to the navigation seat, I'll watch over Mance," Arnek told her, the corners of his lips tugging in a smile as he looked down at her.

Pidge blushing slightly wondering if he was also still assuming her and Keith were mates.

"Thanks" Pidge replied, Arnek stepping aside to let her into the cockpit, the blade agent closing the door behind her before she could do it herself.

Keith looks up from the sensors, giving her a slight smile and nod before he gaze returned to the monitors. They still needed to be careful and make sure no one snuck up on them.

Pidge took her seat in the co-pilots chair starting up some of her own sensors and monitors so she could keep watch as well. Her eyes flicking over to Keith a few times before she simply had to ask.

"Keith, could I see your blade for a moment?" Pidge asked looking over at him.

"Sure" Keith replied glancing over at her a little puzzled but didn't hesitate as he pulled out his blade and offered it to her.

Pidge carefully grabbing the hilt and holding it in her hands, gazing at the small blade in a new light…

There was still a part of Keith that trusted her.

"Keith?"

"Yeah?" he asked his eyes already back on the monitors.

"Just to give you fair warning, Mance thinks we're mates too"

Keith's eyes widen, giving the short girl a double take, mouth open in surprise, his cheeks blooming a deep red again.

Pidge couldn't help but smile and muffle a laugh at his reaction before she started telling Keith what Mance told her.

* * *

** if you look back to ch 5 Rescue, you will notice Mace getting embarrassed when Keith gave Pidge his blade, and this is why it was like watching an intimate moment between two people by the Marmora standards. ;3

Also, come check out my Tumblr to see my art and some of my little au's I don't that I don't post here, I also post when I update my fics (Minus the spaces): cacophony-eg . tumblr .com


	9. Realization

Ch Summary: After learning more about his blade, and what it can symbolize, Keith starts to analyze why Pidge just... feels different to him compared to the others. Then much to both Keith and Pidge's horror, the closet incident has spread to their Voltron team and Kolivan.

A/N: Thanks to bja133, NeatherStar, Raxacoricofallapatoreous, SailorSnowflack, and Haleygur7 for reviewing the last chapter ^-^

* * *

Keith quietly listened as Pidge explained the cultural symbolism of the blades, and how each Mamaora membered viewed their daggers. His eyes were continually shifting between looking at Pidge and watching the monitors.

When she was finished Keith's eyes lingered on the monitors, his right-hand grazing through his bangs and hair, letting out a long soft sigh. He hadn't known about most of the things Pidge just told him, but it did make sense.

Keith tried to think of other people, other team members that he would allow to hold his dagger, or would so willing just give them his blade without a thought... Coran and Allura were quickly crossed out, he trusted them but the tension about his galra heritage, still seem to linger... even just slightly.

Lance and Hunk were a no; Lance would do something stupid he was sure, either by accident, or by fooling around, and Hunk didn't know how to really handle a blade at least not outside of Kitchen. Though admittedly Keith had the opposite problem with knives.

At one point he would trust Shiro with his dagger but lately… things had been so strained between them, Shiro seemed to get angry more easily, seemed to argue more. As things currently were, he wouldn't let Shiro touch his blade.

Then there was Pidge, why did things feel so different with her than with the others? He trusted all his Voltron crew, to varying extents and with different things, but still, the trust was there. But when it came to Pidge, she felt a step above everyone else, and he couldn't quite figure out how or why.

Keith glanced over at Pidge, she was staying quiet giving him time to think, her left hand held onto the hilt as her right thumb gently rubbing over the smooth surface. For some reason, it didn't bother him in the least that she was holding his dagger. Which was a strange sensation... Usually just having it off his person would make him feel anxious.

Yes, some of his trust issued had reappeared, he wouldn't deny or argue with Pidge about that anymore. Still, he trusted her with his blade even during the mission without hesitation, and seem to continue to do so. Maybe there was a part of him that saw Pidge as a ma-

'Beep' came from the monitor having Keith's focus and eyes returning the sensors.

"The Castle of Lions is approaching" Keith announced.

"Oh," Pidge replied, her eyes flicking to Keith then back down at the blade in her grasp, carefully holding her arm out towards him, offering his dagger back. Her eyes were remaining forward looking out the window at the sea of floating rocks and stars.

Keith's eyes lingered over the dagger in her small hand, and suddenly a decision was made.

Keith's hand reached out wrapping around both Pidge's hand and his dagger, her fingers didn't resist as they curled back around the hilt; his hand encompass most of her's. Pidge didn't say anything, but her honey brown eyes looked up into his shining with confusion and probably a thousand questions that wanted to burst out at that moment.

"Pidge I…" damn the look in her eyes made Keith's tongue feel like it was swollen "I trust you with my blade…in the Mamora way " he confessed a light blush painting over his cheeks.

"You make it sound like you trust me with a part of your soul" Pidge replied, looking as if she was not exactly sure what Mamora way Keith was talking about; was it in the family way or was it in the Mate kind of way? Her expression could say so much sometimes, it was often a relief to Keith having to read her easier and guess less.

"I do" he answered, squeezing her hand lightly around the hilt, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry I forgot that during this mission."

Pidge was slowly uncurling her fingers from around the handle of the blade. Keith's expression changed instantly, his eyes flickering down her their hands. The core of his chest suddenly felt a thousand times heavier, his ability to breath felt like it was taken away from him. Pidge lifting the weight as her small fingers curled over his hand; or at least as much as they could, while her thumb still held onto the hilt.

"Just don't ever forget about it again" Pidge warned with a soft smile, squeezing her hand around his, and suddenly Keith felt lighter than he had in a very long time.

"Shock me like Lance if I ever do" Keith replied back, looking up at her, holding her hand a little tighter. Pidge started laughing a little at the comment.

The Marmora symbol on the blade began to glow between their hands, but went unnoticed, each more focused on the other than the sword.

The com chimed, signalling The Castle of Lions were trying to hail them.

"You better answer that," Pidge said carefully letting go of Keith's dagger, giving him enough time to grab it properly, so it wouldn't fall.

Keith took it back, sliding the blade back into its sheath. Twisting his body around to answer the call, Pidge leaning in so she could see the screen too.

Shiro's appearing on screen, softly sighing seeing the two of them. The black paladin looking relieved and concerned, "It's good to see that you're both oka-" Shiro began before Lance shoved himself into the screen.

"Keith what the quiznar did you do to Pidge in that closet!?" Lance shouted Keith face paled, as Pidge's cheeks flared to a deep red. "Her dress is torn to pieces!"

"Nothing happened in the Closet" Pidge yelled back, embarrassed, flustered, and slightly mortified at Lance's implication. "Wait… how do you even know about the closet!?" Pidge questioned in alarm.

Lance placed his hands on his hips and lightly shook his head "boy do you two have some Ex'splaning to do."

Keith and Pidge slide glancing at the other with confused and worried expressions.

Luckily they didn't have time to talk about it... at least not right away. The focus shifted to Mance and getting him to a healing pod.

Shiro ordering Keith and Pidge to get changed, Giving them a chance to get out of their disguise, and some time to think. The two of them wondering how in this vast galaxy did their teammates hear about the closet!?

Keith was feeling better without the bulky armour, merely putting on his civilian clothes since it was quicker than changing his other set of armour. Before heading to the meeting room, where the rest of the team Voltron was, Keith, taking a spot next to Shiro. The taller man giving him a small and assuring smile, along with a gentle squeeze on his shoulder.

At least it seemed like Shiro believed nothing… inappropriate happened in the closet. Keith couldn't say the same for Lance watching the blue paladin creeping closer, with a smirk that just spelled trouble.

"So what happened in the closet with Pidge?" Lance asked strangely wiggling his eyebrows. Keith had seen Lance make a similar gesture towards Allura before, but he had no idea what it meant.

"Nothing that you're thinking up" Keith huffed, already feeling his cheeks heat up a little. Yes from an outsiders point of view, it could of seem like they were… doing something else, but it was all a misunderstanding. Yes, they did talk and hug in the closet, but that was something they both had done outside of the closet as well so it wasn't anything wrong or needed to be done behind closed doors.

"That blush says something elSEEE" Lance shrieked, turning away from him to look behind himself as Pidge slide in between them. Pidge was acting perfectly innocent as if she had been in that spot the whole time, only sparing a small wink to him that gave away her persona.

Keith smirked, giving her a little nod, Pidge was just… great.

Lance turned back around, noticing Pidge between them and instantly started glaring down at her. Lightly shoving her shoulder for the jab, Pidge replying by sticking her tongue out at him, though the slight upwards twist of her lips, showed it was all for play. Lance quick to return the gesture crossing his arms and sticking out his own tongue.

Keith felt a sharp twinge in his chest, when did they start talking or… arguing silently between each other. Hadn't communicated without words been their specialty? When did Lance and Pidge build up this ability...

Shiro let out a firm cough, glancing over at the two of them. Instantly making both Lance's and Pidge's tongues return inside their mouths, straightening up and looked forward.

At least Shiro's 'Behave' cough still was the same, but the changes between Lance and Pidge had Keith feeling oddly anxious, maybe a little worried?

The hologram screen booted up, Keith's eyes returning forward, only a few moments passing before Kolivan appeared on the screen.

Arnek was in the room as well, the pilot beginning the debriefing about their trip to the gala. After he was done Keith stepped in to explain what happened after they left Arnek's ship. What transpired at the party before they snuck deeper into the ship, getting the files, that was when they discovered about Mance, then the both of them choose to save Mance before they returned to Arnek's ship.

"So when did the 'closet' come in?" Kolivan asked calmly, the curve of his mouth showing some amusement.

Keith freezing scrambling for a reply, as everyone in the room, turned to stare at him. Why did even Kolivan know about the closet? Arnek looked puzzled, so he hadn't heard about the closet, but then how did the information reach the other Mamora members.

Pidge moved to step in front of him, the short girl looking a lot calmer than he currently felt. Which meant one thing; Pidge had a plan, or at the very least anticipated this question coming up again.

"We snuck into the closet shortly after leaving the party. We heard footsteps and ducked in there to hide" Pidge explained calmly.

"which we may have never needed to do if my dress had been stealth tested, it was constantly making noise" she scolded, Kolivan simply nodding in reply, Keith hoping he made a mental note, Pidge did not take being ignored well when she was trying to be informative.

Pidge gave a slight nod back before continuing "The footsteps kept approaching, and both Keith and I knew. If it was a guard. We would have a fight on our hands. Since the weapons were hidden under my dress, Keith lifted up the skirt of my dress to grab his dagger, and that was when a servant, not a guard walked in on us." Small 'ahs' of realization and hums echoed around her, well all except for one disappointed 'oh' from Lance.

"How did you hear about the closet?" Pidge questioned the Blade's leader.

"Well, rumours of the Duchess Rukul and her personal Knight becoming intimate while hiding in a closet has been spreading like wildfire over the galra open channels," Kolivan explain.

Pidge's jaw dropped a little, both their cheeks were now flaring a deep red. Did guards seriously have nothing better to do?

"It's been so consuming for the past few Varga, that no reports of Mance's escape have even passed through the coms or even the encrypted channels." Kolivan explained "Though from what I heard from Lucaus; Duchess Rukul is not happy with all this extra attention" Kolivan added.

Pidge ducking her head taking a half a step back closer to Keith; his undercover partner looking a mix of guilt and relief. Probably because the focus; galactic wise, was on Rukul instead of her.

"But you stuck to the main goal of having no one realized the information was duplicated or taken off the ship so we will deal with mending things with Rukul" Kolivan assured, both Pidge's and Keith's shoulders slumping in relief.

"Green Paladin once you finish decrypting the files, give them to Arnek, he will deliver them to the needed agents. Keith, you will stay until Mance is fully healed, report to me when he is able to report in" Kolivan ordered, the three of them nodding.

"I'll get started right away" Pidge promised.

"Thank you Green Paladin, Arnek, Keith for the time being get some rest, dismissed," Kolivan told them before his image disappeared from the screen.

"How about I make everyone a nice supper" Hunk suggested "Arnek you're more than welcome to join us" the yellow paladin offered, wanting to make sure the blade member was included in the dinner as well.

"I think I will, thank you Yellow paladin" Arnek nodded.

"You can just call me Hunk" he assured.

"Have my supper sent to the lab. I need to get started" Pidge told Hunk.

Keith frowned slightly "do you need any help?" he asked looking down at her, he wanted to talk to her more, see her more.

"Nah I'm fine it will go quicker on my own." Pidge replied waving her hand dismissively "anyways I got to spend all day with you. I'm sure everyone wants some Keith time as well." she said gently patting his arm, Keith nodded then his eyes narrow, but not at her, it was directed to the Cuban boy with the Cheshire grin.

Pidge followed his gaze over to Lance, before shaking her head turning to face him and taping a finger against the blue paladin's chest.

"Oh, and Lance if you tease Keith about the closest thing, I will disconnect the game console in your room" she warned flatly, Lance expressing deflating and nodded in defeat.

Pidge had a gift for peoples weak spots, that was amazing. It was a trait many even among Voltron crew found scary, but Keith was nothing but impressed, even when it was used against him.

Pidge turned to leave the room with a challenging smile, she was looking forward to cracking the array of different files, and their encryption.

Keith would take her suggestion and visit with the others but later… He needed to tell her something he realized...

* * *

(only one more chapter left ;3 )

Also, come check out my Tumblr to see my art and some of my little au's I don't that I don't post here, I also post when I update my fics (Minus the spaces): cacophony-eg . tumblr .com


	10. New Start

Summary:

Pidge winds down after decoding the new files, Keith giving Pidge a few surprises and she gave him a few more in return.

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A/N:  
It's finally here! Thank you all for waiting, a lot has happened that left me feeling creatively broken and empty. But I'm building myself back up again and starting it by finally completing this fic. I hope you enjoy it.

Special thanks to Rockondude, haleygur7, uzimmerman25 for commenting on the last chapter and for everyone that left Kudos!

* * *

Pidge raised her arms, stretching out the muscles of her limbs, groaning as the stiffness eased and popped away. Raising them higher and leaning back to get rid of that tight ball in her back.

She heard door hissing open, Pidge leaning her head back further to get an upside-down view of the door and who it was.

"Oh, hey Keith," she greeted, spotting the upsidedown Keith holding a plate of food. "You could have finished eating before bring my dinner," she offered, flipping herself around, Pidge's site becoming right side up again.

"It's been three hours," Keith informed, not sounding or looking surprised over her loss of time, stepping into her workspace the door hissing closed behind him "The truth is me, and Lance ended up eating your share, so Hunk made more for you."

The short girl shrugged, sliding her keyboard further up the desk to make room for her plate. "I'm so lucky Hunk likes cooking," she replied, taking her dish.

"We all are," Keith agreed, "making any headway?" he questioned, nodding to her screen.

"My part is ninety-percent done. Figured out the entire encryption a while ago, just finished creating an algorithm to go through the rest of the file and translate the rest of it for me." Pidge gestured to the computer screen, sliding through words and symbols. "So your timing perfect," she explained, taking a significant bit of Hunks food.

"id Lance try - ick on you?" she asked around a mouthful of food.

"He didn't bring up the closest thing, a lot of other things... but not the closest," Keith informed her as she swallowed.

"Good, I would hate to disconnect the M.G. II console, that thing is a hassle to put back together." She grumbled, taking another bite.

Keith took the seat next to her's; there was this look on his face that made him almost seem nervous?

"Pidge… do you have time to talk?" He asked, she quickly nodded while swallowing another bite of food, noticing how his one hand fiddled with the hilt of his Mammora blade.

"As long as you don't mind me eating at the same time," She replied, wondering if he wanted to talk more about his blade and the cultural meaning.

Keith paused, looking between her food and the screen that was auto-translating — maybe weighing his time options? Pidge wondering how urgent this thing Keith wanted to talk about was.

"How long with the algorithm take?"

"Several hours," she replied, Pidge could have finished it maybe an hour or two faster than the algorithm, but after dealing with all the 'events' and stress of the day even Pidge admitted she needed a break... probably some sleep too.

Now that the rush of cracking a new code had faded, her mind had started to feel heavy and fuzzy — the need for rest aching in her body and mind.

"Then it can wait till after you eat," he said, "Lance told me he couldn't make you take food breaks like I can."

Was that relief in his tone? She had expected annoyance or disappointment, maybe even Keith wanted to feel needed. Keith could be such a blind idiot.

"To be fair, I knew you wouldn't give up till I gave in and with Lance well... it was clear he would break long before I ever would," she smiled.

Keith let out a little huff of a laugh, his mouth twitching into a smile, "Are you admitting I'm more stubborn then you?"

"No, just that you're my only rival, at least when it comes to a battle of wills," she replied, munching on more food.

"Why do I keep getting rivals I have no idea about?" Keith questioned aloud, Pidge not sure if it was to himself or her, but it made her laugh.

"I think that says more about your obviousness then your 'rivals,'" She replied, getting a surprised disgruntle noise from Keith that only made her laugh more.

It took a few moments to calm down before she realized Keith compete attention was on her, and it was a little unnerving.

Keith had a scary about of focus when he wanted to. It made her instinctively bite her lip as she fought the urge to look away.

His eyes drifted downwards slightly before quickly looking away… Pidge swearing Keith's cheeks were turning a light pink.

She looked away from him, munching on more of her food. Usually, the silence between them was comfortable, and it was quite common back in the days when he was the pilot of the red lion. But this quiet between them felt off; she could practically feel Keith bubbling with a need to say something and fighting with himself about whatever he wanted to talk about or at least that's what she was assuming.

Pidge would never say she was great at reading people, but she used to be pretty good at reading Keith.

"So…" Pidge began as she finished her last bite and put the plate to the side. "What did you want to talk about?" she asked curiously.

Keith's attention quickly returned to her, his one hand twitching against the hilt of his dagger. "Would you like to date?"

Pidge blinked, her mind lagging at it processed his words "are you asking if I want to date you?" she asked for clarity because it wouldn't be the first time she missed interpreted his words.

"Yes," Keith replied with a small nod. His eyes were never wavering as they gazed down at her. "I know we can't date not… in the normal sense, but I know I trust you, I want to be closer to you…. I always want to keep you as part of my life."

There was a struggle in his speech, a desperation to use the right words. But no hesitation in what he was feeling or the look in his eyes. Pidge took a moment to think as his mental and physical stance didn't waver.

"We don't have to date like normal people" She concluded, "nothing is exactly human standard out here. So we can figure out our kind of way to date."

"Is that a yes?" Keith asked, pulling his blade out and offering it to her.

She smiled placing her hand over his hand that held the hilt "It's a yes" she confirmed, "but I expect to have more time with you, I'll talk to Kolivan and make sure you're allowed to visit your mate."

Keith's whole face flushed red, a small squeak leaving his mouth as he tried to speak.

"Relax Keith, I know we are just dating and not official mates, but it will make getting what we want easier. The Blades of Marmora drown in their traditions. so I'm sure even Kolivan would have to yield to those traditions, and I'm more then sure with the way Arnek and Mance reacted, they will back up our claim if questioned." Pidge assured.

She will pull the right strings to make the right kind of request. Use other people's assumptions and beliefs against them if need be. No one could keep her away from someone she cared about, especially when that person wanted to see and be with her as well.

"You are very scary," Keith said with such a soft smile and fond eyes, it made her pulse quicken for half a second.

"You don't seem scared," she pointed out, letting out a little cough her face feeling warmer then it should.

"Too impressed to be scared," Keith shrugged, making her involuntary smile. Okay, time to start making Keith blush again.

"So… want to kiss to make it official?" she asked a familiar devious sensation inside of her growing, as Keith's whole face turned red in an instant.

Pidge was letting him drown in his thoughts for a few long moments before interjecting. "Don't worry if you're not ready for that; we can do something smaller?" She assured, gently squeezing his hand.

Keith's body relaxed as he started breathing again, oh she must have got him good if he forgot to breathe. A yawn creeping out past her lips. This had been one very long day.

"How about we just sleep together?" she suggested.

"How is that _smaller_?!" Keith questioned, Pidge desperately resisting the urge to laugh. Of course, that would be the one innuendo he got, and oh, his voice had definitely cracked.

Apparently, Pidge wasn't doing a great job in hiding her amusement. If the bemused look Keith was giving her was anything to go by.

Pidge turned to face him, putting her free hand over his arm. Time to defuse things, no matter how funny they were. "I just meant sleep, sleep."

Realization and embarrassment flashed over his features, disappointingly sighing at himself for his reaction. The misunderstanding hadn't been Pidge's intention, but she couldn't deny that it was funny and well worth it.

"You're evil," he huffed, staring down at her.

"Is that a deal-breaker?" she teasingly asked, tilting her head to the side.

"No," Keith shook his head, handing his blade to her as he stood up, freeing both his hands before scooping up her small form into his arms. Pidge too tired to protest, resting her head against his shoulder, nestling his blade against her chest.

"You must be tired," Keith muttered, sure she would often protest picking her up like she was some lap dog, but she didn't want to... not today.

"Don't expect this every time," she warned, his arms holding her a little tighter.

"Think the both of us can fit on my bed?" Keith asked as he started leaving the lab.

"Probably, but why not my bed?" she questioned back.

"You trust me to carry you while jumping through the obstacle course that is your room?" he flatly questioned.

"Yes," she nodded against his shoulder, "but I don't mind your bed, was just asking," she tiredly murmured her eyes feeling like they were taking extra effort to stay open.

She could feel his chest rise and fall with his sigh, closing her eyes as he gently rested his chin over her head. "How about you sleep and let me take the lead" he suggested.

Pidge was slowly nodding and humming in agreement; it was a good agreement. She knew they still had a lot to figure out, but for now. Just knowing Keith was right there with her was enough till she got a few hours of sleep.

* * *

AN:  
That's it for this fic, thank you all for reading. I know many of you were probably excepting a kiss between them, but that just didn't feel right for Pidge and Keith at least not at this point in their relationship.

This fic may have started as a one-shot, but ever since I would say chapter three, it was my goal to have them begin their relationship by the end. I didn't expect it to take ten chapters, but I didn't want to rush things and give them both time to start and re-trust each other and for Keith and Pidge to recognize and realize their feelings.


End file.
